I work in a nursery - AMA

[Olivetreekit]

Hello! I have worked in two nurseries so far (including the one I’m working in,in which I am room leader.) I just wanted to see if I can help people with this thread as when people find out I work in a nursery they have quite a few questions - I’ll put some frequently asked questions here but go ahead and ask me anything! (Btw I don’t have children of my own yet so I can only answer specific questions about nursery life rather than parenting.)

FAQ & tips:
1 - Why does my child eat at nursery and not at home? There are several answers for this, I think it’s mostly because food is served at the exact time every single day so children are expecting it, we don’t give them food outside of these structured time. They also have their friends around them who they use as an example. Also there is a lot less pressure on the child because there are so many other children we have to pay attention to. .

2 - If when settling in you tell us your child is a nightmare going to sleep and we don’t react, it’s because every single parent says that! 90% of children sleep fine at nursery.

3 - What do you do all day (staff?)
A lot of people think we just play all day with the kids but it’s a lot more than that. The paperwork we do is absolutely never ending (planning activities and reports for each child), that takes up majority of the day.

4 - What do my children do all day?
To be honest, from where I’ve worked if it’s a private nursery they are most likely playing all day with some structured activities thrown in between. Obviously it depends on the nursery but both of mine have been like this.

5- If the nursery staff have asked you to bring your child different shoes/ any other item of regular clothing than the ones your child usually wears it means it has absolutely been a nightmare to put them on or off. So please do!

6 - Yes we are paid terribly.

7 - Please be nice to us, we’re human too

8 - if you’re struggling with anything we want you to tell us! We can be more helpful than you might think

Do you have favourites?

I am curious about this as I temp in a nursery sometimes and I definitely have children I gel with more than others. My son sadly had to leave his first nursery as it closed down but we keep in touch with a couple of members of staff that claim he was one of their favourites 😅

Do you think that the abuse of babies like those at the Tiny Toes nursery in Stockport are more common than we realise?

Why do you think some nurseries are conducive to that and what can be done to prevent further abuse?

Do you all love children? do you think abusers work with you?

Why is there so much staff turnover?

I do! It’s mostly children with big personalities or who are very funny but I treat them all the same nevertheless

I definitely wouldn’t say abuse is common at all, at least where I’ve worked. I’ve had some coworkers who I’d say are “harsher” but they’re just a bit more firm/less fun with the children. I think if a nursery lets abuse happen there must be a massive issue with management as ours regularly come in to check everything is okay. If staff are irritable it’s definitely the result of being overworked and underpaid. But there is no excuse for abuse

We all do love children, yes! I’ve had a few staff say they feel like they’re in the wrong jobs sometimes but it’s never related to children. I’ve never had any abusers (suspected or otherwise) work with me.

To be honest a lot of people start working at nurseries quite young and they’re full of energy and excited to work with kids but there is just so much burnout at this job. The paperwork, the management, the parents etc. it can all get too much. It is extremely stressful especially if you were not expecting it; so a lot of people burnout and leave.

That confirms it, thank you. Mine is probably going to be described as ‘a character’ by his teachers 😆

Do you work with agency staff? The nursery I temp at is staffed by probably 40% agency. We are paid more (that’s not fair I know but not our fault!) and not expected to stay late or do any admin or paperwork. Do you think there’s any resentment from the permanent staff for this? I wish they could retain more permanent staff but the pay and hours are crap. They are always offering jobs to agency staff but can’t match the pay or conditions.

No problem!

I have never worked with agency staff! My nurseries have never hired them because both nurseries I worked at had multiple branches so if they needed staff they’d send someone from another branch in. I think bringing in agency staff is a bit useless because they can’t be left alone with the kids

Do you actually put the naps in correctly? I had two entities for one nap time but two different people, not correlating times.

When I asked one person who entered it she admitted she guessed.

No they can’t, but the one I work at couldn’t function without. They do tend to use the same ones so they get to know the kids well and the parents aren’t seeing different faces all the time. Some are literally there just to bolster the ratios but Ive no problem getting stuck in reading, singing, playing and doing craft activities. The day is verrrrrryyy long otherwise.

I try my best to put them in accurately and personally, I put a note on to tell the parents if I’m not entirely sure when they woke up and wether the time on the app is an estimate (this has only happened about three times because in my room I ask staff to write them on a whiteboard aswell as the app). However, nap time is usually staff lunch time so we’re all switching places to try and get lunches done so we can be back by the time they wake up so there might be miscommunication between staff sometimes. For the most part though (90% of the time) I would say its accurate

I agree with you! We don’t get paid enough to hate it Lol

No questions but just wanted to say thank you for all you do. Nursery staff are woefully underpaid for the job they do and often work long hours with not enough reward. It really is a job done for the love and not the money.

How are your management on supporting you and making sure there’s no burnout? Some nurseries really don’t seem to focus enough on staff appreciation.

Thank you so much! You’re so right we love our kids and even on my hardest days I would not change it for the world

I'm a qualified nursery nurse, i know its not called that these days!! I worked in lots of different childcare settings, with lots of different people. Once i had my own kids there was no way i was leaving them in childcare myself.
Would you leave your own kids in childcare you had no links with eg you didn't work there or knew someone who did?

My old one was actually horrific for this (which is why I left) my new one is ALOT better. We have team building activities and we have fun things like raffles/birthday lunches/staff competitions and they’ve recently made it so that we are able to put in a request a meal from the kitchen so we can have a hot free meal at lunch if we want. Also almost all coworkers are friends too so we love working together

It’s actually not that they are favourites, it’s that they fit in with the way you are and react to what you do. That works both ways as you develope a real understanding of the child’s needs as they grow and you can spot changes in behaviour easier.

I think that most abuse is very rare. I also think that the magnification of such events does not help anyone. Safeguarding procedures are more robust today than they ever have been in my 25 years of experience.

Love, and more importantly, the ability to care, are what underpinns good staff. Im working 45-50 hours a week this summer but I absolutely love my job. Im so lucky to be around children every day.

Love is why we are so badly paid.

I work for a family run Nursery group and I remember being so happy to see that they cared about the kids even if it sometimes left them out of pocket. You can’t teach the ability to care, and is has to run through everything in a Nursery. The management are good and want me to remember that sometimes I need to look after me too after I’ve looked after everyone else.

I agree. I think many parents read this and freak out but the reason it’s on the news is because it’s extremely rare. If it happened often it wouldn’t be a news story.

My child is moving room soon and I'd love to get a gift for his wonderful staff! What would you recommend. At Christmas i made a staff room hamper of nice tea and coffee and biscuits etc